Shoe rack



April 24, 1940.

sHoERAcK Filed Dec. 6,'. 1938 W'lll'am B Chilly.

-., lloor.

Patented pr. .2, 1940 UNITED STATES artnrorties,

Application December 6, 1938, Serial No.l 244,192

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to shoe racks, and. more particularly and typically to shoe racks of the type commonly installedin a ush position the wall of a closet or dressing room, though not necessarily restricted, ink all aspects, to that type. of' installation. f

Shoe racks of the type to whichthe present invention appertains comprises a pan-like frame or box, commonly adapted to be sunk Within the wallA of a room, and a. plurality of horizontal pairs of bars or rods extending between the sides of the box and so arrangedv that the heel of the shoe may be engaged overand supported by one rod of such a pair and the sole ofthe shoe be supported by theother rod of the pair. Racks of this type in common prior usage are sometimesvquite satisfactory for high-heeledfshoes, but low-heeled shoes have a more or less insecure seatJ on such a rack, and are quite easily toppled off onto the Furthermore, this type of shoe rack is usually installed between a pair of studs of the building wall, and the width of the box or frame isl accordingly restricted. In practice, the width is so restricted that shoe racks of this type, as`

heretofore known, will not accommodate more than three mens shoes, side by side.

Objects of the invention are as follows:

To provide a shoe rack'of the typey mentioned which embodies an improved bracket for securely supporting low-heeled as well as high-heeled shoes;

To provide a shoerack of the permanentwallinstalled type which is capable of accommodating a greater number of shoes, side by side, without increase in the width of that portion of the device tha1; must be received between the studs of the building Wall; n To provide a shoe rack which is simple and inexpensive vin construction, and which, even when made of comparatively light materials, is adequately strong for the purpose.

With this preliminary discussion ofthe shortearnings of the prior art and of the purposes of the present invention, the invention will be best understood from the followingdetailed description of a present preferred embodiment thereof, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a shoe rack in accordance with the present invention;

Fig'. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig.y 3. isa vertical section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1, the latter showing in dottedy lines, a shoe placed in position on the rack;

Fig. e is a detail-:taken asindicated by arrows lil-4 of Fig, 2; and

Fig. 5 is a detail section taken as indicated by arrows 5 5 of Fig. 4.

In the. drawing, numeral Il! designates generally a pan-like frame or box, comprising Vertical baokpanel H, and outwardly diverging sides I2, top i3 and botom It. Ilhe sides as well as the top and botom of box I are formed with usual outwardly turned ilanges l5, and it will be understood' that box it' is intended to be set in a rectangular opening cut in a vertical'wall of a room, between a pair of studs of said wall, with flanges i5 engaging or overlying a marginal area of the Wall surface (plaster) around said opening. Any suitable or conventional means, not shown, may of `course be employed to secure the box in` position within the wall.

Box or frame I0 is equipped with a plurality of vertically adjustable wire racks I6. In the preferred form of the invention here shown, each of these racks comprises a main vwire member I8 formed at its twoends with down-turned portions i9 adapted to be engaged in a selected pair of loops 26 bent outwardly from the innercorners of pan Hl. These loops 2t are formed by horizontally severing the metal at the rear corners of the pan at vertically spaced points 2l' and 22, and

, bending in, as illustrated (see Figs. l kand 5). Horizontally alined pairs of loops 2D are located in vertically spaced relation along the pan, as illustrated.

Wire I3 has portions 2S extending forwardly, substantially horizontally, from the aforemenf tioned down-turned ends I9, these portions 2li lying adjacent the angular sides l2 ofthe pan and projecting to points just forwardly of anges l5. Extending downwardly and outwardly from portions .26 are angular portions 2l, which are disposed diagonally voutward across and just forwardly of flanges l5. These portions 27 merge with forwardly projectingand preferably slightly upwardly inclined portions 28, which in turn merge with a horizontal connecting portion 29.

A horizontal heel supporting rod or bar 3Q ex'- tends between and is secured, as by spot welding, to rack portions 26, at points located somewhat inwardly along said portions 26, in such position that the rearward portion of the shoe is freely accommodated when its. heel is engaged over said bar 30. A horizontal bottom 'supporting bar 3l extends between the lower ends of rack portions 2l, being fastened to portions 21 in anyv suitable manner, as for instance by spot welding.

When the rack is unloaded, the rack may extend outwardly from its rearward mountings as a cantilever (see the two lower racks in Fig. 3), the materials being suciently heavy that the rack may at such time be supported by its downturned ends I9 and loops 20. W'hen the rack is loaded, however, bar 3| horizontally engages anges l5 to aid in supporting the combined weight of the rack and shoes. This enables the rack as well as the supporting means for its downwardly turned ends I9 to be made of relatively light materials, with the result that expense is reduced without sacrificing strength of construction. It will of course be appreciated that manufactures of the type under consideration are sold in large quantities with small profit per unit, and that any manner by which the cost of production can be reduced, even slightly, is of great importance. As here typically illustrated, this bar 3| underlies rack portion 2l and therefore engages flanges l5. It will of course be evident that bar 3l might be placed on top of portions 2l, or might abut such portions, in which case rack portion 2l would engage flanges l5 to afford the type of support mentioned. However, this arrangement is worked out in practice, the essential point in this connection is that the rack bear inwardly against and be supported by portions of the box, as for example, by flanges I5.

Shoes are placed in the rack: in the manner clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the heel of the shoe being engaged over rod 30, with the sole of the shoe resting on rod Si. and the toe of the shoe passing between red 3l and rack portion QS, which latter acts as a guard and assures that the shoes cannot fall from the rack. In the illustration of Fig. 3, the top portion of the shoe is shown as in engagement with guard 29; it will be evident, however, that this will not always be the case, and that there will frequently, with the smaller shoes, be a clearance space between guard 29 and the top of the shoe.- This is not at all material, since if the heel of such a smaller shoe should become disengaged from bar 3G, the shoe will simply slip downwardly somewhat until caught by guard 29. Thus it will be evident that the guard portion 29 assures that the shoes cannot be toppled out or oir the rack.

Attention is now directed to Fig. l, showing that the outward inclination, or divergence, of rack port-ions 2l provides for accommodation of an additional shoe. It will he apparent that if the overall shoe space were to be confined by the dimension between box sides I2, as in prior practice, but three shoes could be accommodated, but by widening the rack forwardly of flanges I5, the outer portions of the toes of the two outside shoes overlap flanges l5, extending beyond or outside of sides i2, and four shoes are thus accommodated.

The shoe rack provided by the present invention is simple, light in construction and inexpensive to manufacture, and holds more shoes, as well as being designed to afford better or more secure support for the shoes, than previous racks of the general type under consideration. Shoes are easily placed in the rack, and once placed, are positively supporte-:l against falling.

It will be understood the drawing and description are to be considered as illustrative of rather than restrictive on the broader claims appended hereto, and that various changes in design, structure and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or of the appended claims.

We claim:

l. In a shoe supporting device, the combination of: a frame; a wire member having its two end portions in supporting engagement with said frame, and having sides extending forwardly from said end portions, then downwardly, and then forwardly, and a horizontal front member joining with the forward ends of said sides; a horizontal rod extending between said first mentioned forwardly extending portion of said sides and adapted to support the heel of a shoe; a horizontal rod extending between the lower portions of said sides and adapted to support the bottom of a shoe which is placed with its heel engaged over said heel supporting bar and with its toe inside said horizontal front member; and means on said frame acting as a horizontal support for said downwardly extending portions of the Sides of said wire member.

2. In a shoe supporting device, the combination of a frame; a shoe supporting bracket comprising members mounted at their rearward ends on said frame and extending outwardly therefrom as cantilevers, together with transverse shoe-supporting members extending between said cantilever members; and means on said frame horizontally engaged by a portion of said bracket at a point spaced outwardly from the rearward ends of said cantilever members and acting as a horizontal support for the bracket when the latwire member having downwardly turned end portions, means inside and at the rear of said box adapted to be engaged by said downwardly turned end portions and to vertically support said wire member; said wire member having sides projecting forwardly from said down turned end portions to points forwardly of said flanges, then extending downwardly and outwardly across said flanges, and then forwardly from said flanges, and a horizontal front member joining with the forward ends of said sides; a horizontal rod extending between said rst mentioned forwardly projecting portions of said sides and adapted to support the heel of a shoe; and a horizontal rod extending between the lower portions of said sides and adapted to support the bottom oi` a shoe which is placed with its heel engaged over said heel supporting bar and with its toe inside said horizontal front member.

4. In a shoe supporting device, the combination of: a box-like frame having vertical Sides, a shoe bracket comprising side members having portions between said sides of said frame, a horizontal heel-supporting member extending between said portions, said side members having sections projecting from between said sides to points located forwardly of the front edges of said sides, and which are spaced outwardly from the vertical edges of said sides, and are spaced below said rst mentioned horizontal member, a horizontal shoe-bottom supporting member extending' between the lower portions of said last mentioned sections of said side members, said side members having sections projecting forwardly from said points, and a horizontal guard-bar joining the forward ends ofl said last mentioned sections of said side members.

WILLIAM P. CRILLY. RALPH J. BURKE. 

